Courant Editor Hazell fabricates conversations, claims to be at meeting she wasn't, sends out emails giving instructions on how key advertisers are to be treated different

I have no idea what is going on with Courant editor Naedine Hazell – who not long ago was a well respected journalist by many of the staff at the oldest continuosly published newspaper in the country.

But when she makes up conversations that didn’t happen, pretends that conversations that did happen did not, and claims in the New York Times to have been at a meeting she wasn’t, something is terribly wrong.

 Naedine has been pushed out front by the chief editor and publisher, who are hiding behind her skirt, hoping that she will take all the hits for their actions. I wonder how long she will last before they decide she can’t help them anymore and will throw her under the bus and con someone else to be their shield?

In this blog I will set out what Naedine has said publicly, what the facts are, and emails between her and I that will help you decide who is on the level and who is not.

First, I would like to present internal emails that will prove false Courant management claims that they did not want me and other staffers to treat key avertisers and potential key advertisers different than non advertisers. I want to apologize up front that this is not going to be easy reading – you will have to read closely, look at the time and topic in each email. But if you go through these real carefully I think you will understand what is going on.

 From: Gombossy, George
Sent: Sat 7/11/2009 11:30 AM
To: Hazell, Naedine
Cc: Levine, Jeffrey S; Delucia, Lynne
Subject:

Naedine

 I thought it might be helpful if I wrote out my understanding  of what Jeff’s instructions are and listed questions that come to mind immediately on how I can comply with them.

 COLUMNS AND BITES IN PRINT

All columns and bites involving complaints or problems should include suggestions on how consumers can avoid the problem or mitigate it.

I need to alert my editor if a column or bite has anything negative about a major advertiser – the list having been provided to me Friday. I assume it is then the editor’s responsibility to alert Jeff.

If a print item involves one of these advertisers, I need to put that into context as to how that advertiser’s problem compares to other similar companies or entities.

 Question – how do I deal with negative comments involving the state (since it’s a major advertiser) and its various agencies??????

 Blog

All blog items need to make clear at the top whether it’s my comments or a reader’s comments.

 Questions??????

Must all blog items I write critical of a major advertiser be first submitted to an editor? Who?

Must all blog items in this category written DIRECTLY by a reader be first submitted to an editor? Who?

Must all blog items that originate from a reader as an email or a letter – again in this category – that I want to post as a blog item be first submitted to an editor? Who?

Must all COMMENTS about these blog items be first reviewed by an editor before I allow them to be posted? Who?

 I am sure other questions will come to mind for all of us, but if I can receive guidance on these questions as soon as possible it would be appreciated.

Frankly, until then, I will not be comfortable blogging any critical items or permitting negative comments to be posted on CTWatchdog about a major advertiser.

 Thanks

George

—–Original Message—–
From: Hazell, Naedine
Sent: Sunday, July 12, 2009 11:28 AM
To: Gombossy, George
Cc: Levine, Jeffrey S; Delucia, Lynne
Subject: RE:

Obviously, we’re treating this blog differently than others in that it seems many of the posts will need to be reviewed by an editor first, including reader comments…We don’t currently have a procedure for this.
It’s worth holding off on posts until we can talk and clarify the blog’s roll going forward or if we want to try a different format.
—–Original Message—–
From: Gombossy, George
Sent: Friday, July 10, 2009 3:32 PM
To: Hazell, Naedine
Cc: Delucia, Lynne; Haar, Dan
Subject: Re: TOP ADVERTISERS JAN-JUN 2009.xls
 
This of course will present challenges since even the state of ct is a top advertiser

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 10, 2009, at 3:16 PM, “Hazell, Naedine” <NHazell@courant.com> wrote:
 
 
<TOP MAJORS-CLASSIFIED ADVERTISERS JAN-JUN 2009.xls>
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: “Gombossy, George” <GGombossy@courant.com>
To: “Hazell, Naedine” <NHazell@courant.com>
Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:37:05 -0500
Subject: Naedine, I have to leave in a few minutes and won’t be back for two hours, any word on whether I should use that paragraph? gg

 
 
George Gombossy
Hartford Courant Watchdog Consumer Columnist
Watchdog@courant.com
Blog: www.courant.com/ctwatchdog
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ctwatchdog
Facebook: George Gombossy
 
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: “Gombossy, George” <GGombossy@courant.com>
To: “Hazell, Naedine” <NHazell@courant.com>
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2009 17:50:24 -0500
Subject: RE: Watchdog and advertisers

Naedine
I asked Nancy Meyer if Aiello was an advertiser or not, because it wasn’t clear in my mind. I had never seen one of their ads in our paper.
Its because I may not know who all our advertisers are that I am asking that I be given a list so I can comply with Jeff’s directive. I frankly did not think that readers’ items on my blog would be the same as me writing a column, but if you believe it is covered by Jeff’s directive then it is vital for me to have a list and to let me know who I should run the items and comments by before publishing them on my blog.
Thanks
George
 
George Gombossy
Hartford Courant Watchdog Consumer Columnist
Watchdog@courant.com
Blog: www.courant.com/ctwatchdog
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ctwatchdog
Facebook: George Gombossy
 
From: Hazell, Naedine
Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 5:06 PM
To: Gombossy, George
Cc: Delucia, Lynne
Subject: RE: Watchdog and advertisers
 
Who did you ask for a list of advertisers?
 
From: Gombossy, George
Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 2:38 PM
To: Hazell, Naedine
Cc: Delucia, Lynne
Subject: RE: Watchdog and advertisers
 
I am around next week Naedine.
So until next week do you want me to run by someone every blog entry critical of an advertiser written by readers prior to my publishing them?
If so, who do you want me to approve the entries. Can someone provide me a list of all advertisers, including those on the web.
Thanks
George
 
George Gombossy
Hartford Courant Watchdog Consumer Columnist
Watchdog@courant.com
Blog: www.courant.com/ctwatchdog
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ctwatchdog
Facebook: George Gombossy
 
From: Hazell, Naedine
Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 2:30 PM
To: Gombossy, George; Delucia, Lynne
Cc: Levine, Jeffrey S; Hunt, Kevin
Subject: Watchdog and advertisers
 
George,
I think that blog entries were implied, although were not explicit, in the discussion we had about notification when an item involved an advertiser.
Seems that we should all touch base again next week when Jeff is back from vacation. Are you around next week?
Thanks,
Naedine
 
From: Gombossy, George
Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 2:15 PM
To: Delucia, Lynne; Hazell, Naedine
Cc: Levine, Jeffrey S
Subject: RE: I found this..after I spoke to George:
 
Naedine
I am a little confused about the latest exchanges involving a blog item written (not by me) but a consumer about Price Chopper.
First of all, my understanding was that Jeff asked to be notified of any column or bite that I wrote about that was derogatory about an advertiser. Blogs were not included in that discussion. I assume you were also under that impression since I have posted and written numerous blog items about advertisers without any feedback.
Virtually every blog item and comment I have written or published involves an advertiser or a potential advertiser. In some cases I may not even be aware that a company advertises with us (like I was unaware that Aiello was an advertiser). I have requested information from our advertising head but did not get an answer about whether Aeillo was an advertiser.
I could really use some specific instructions on what The Courant would like me to do when it comes to the Watchdog blog.
 
Thanks
George

Lynne DeLucia
Assistant Managing Editor State/Metro
860-241-6208
ldelucia@courant.com
From: Delucia, Lynne
Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 1:25 PM
To: Levine, Jeffrey S
Cc: Hazell, Naedine
Subject: RE: I found this..after I spoke to George:
 
George’s claims are accurate.
The complaint came from a customer.    He researched the issue on the internet.  Before posting it on the internet – he sent Price Chopper the complaint.  Price Chopper chose to respond directly on the blog and Mona Golub’s comments are visible on the site.   
 
He blogs about companies all the time and I would say that all of them are advertisers or likely advertisers.   
Did he tell me he was posting this no, he didn’t.  (Or I would have know what you were talking about when you emailed me.)     When we met we discussed when he wrote about an advertiser to give a heads up.   He took that to mean the newspaper.   (and frankly, I did too.   )
 
Lynne
 
 
 
 
Lynne DeLucia
Assistant Managing Editor State/Metro
860-241-6208
ldelucia@courant.com
From: Levine, Jeffrey S
Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 12:58 PM
To: Delucia, Lynne
Cc: Hazell, Naedine
Subject: Re: I found this..after I spoke to George:
 
So are George’s claims accurate? Are the store reps? Did he give us a heads up before writing about a major client?

 

From: Delucia, Lynne
To: Levine, Jeffrey S
Cc: Hazell, Naedine
Sent: Thu Jul 09 11:51:17 2009
Subject: RE: I found this..after I spoke to George:
Here it is.
LYNNE
 
PRice Chopper complaint: customer claims crab advertisement false
By
George Gombossy
 on July 2, 2009 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
As if it isn’t bad enough with the economic situation, now we have the issue of false advertising.
 
The Price Chopper Ad (prices effective June 28-July 4)  lists Catch of the Week – Maryland Primes dressed soft shell crabs $3.99 each.

Wednesday, July 1, I drove over to my local Price Chopper at 35 Talcottville Rd. Vernon with great anticipation of acquiring these tasty morsels.

As I waited at the seafood counter, I noticed that the soft shells looked very small.  I was hoping items behind the glass appeared smaller than actual size!!  I ask a clerk how much one weighs.
She said “Oh, I don’t know, maybe 2 ounces”.  I asked her if she would weigh one for me.  A male clerk stepped in and took a crab ( one of the bigger ones) from the case and put it on the scale. 

It weighed 1(one) ounce.  I was astounded. Are they even legal??? I told him that “Primes” must be a minimum of 3.3 ounces.  He said ” You have to understand that our ads are not always accurate”.  REALLY!!!
 
Just as eggs have a standard weight – large dozens must weigh a minimum of 24 ounces, there is a standard in the industry for soft shell crabs. 
 
Whales – 5 1/2″ plus – 5.9 ounces
Jumbos 5″ – 5 1/2″  – 4.5 ounces
Primes 4 1/2″ – 5″ – 3.3 ounces
Hotels 4″-4 1/2″ – 2.5 ounces
Medium 3 1/2″-4″ – 1.8 ounces
 
I proceeded to the Customer Service ( I use that term loosely) and ask to speak to the store manager.  The woman said she was a shift supervisor perhaps she could help since managers were in a meeting.

 After I went through the scenario, she said she would page the store manager and get him from his meeting…which she did, however, he was in the opposite corner in a conversation.

  Anyway, his name was Nick Micale ( asst. manager) and he acted as if I was interrupting his day and admitted he knew nothing about soft shell crabs and shrugged a lot.  He did not apologize or offer any explanation – NOTHING!  He just said he’d look into it and walked away. 
 
I wouldn’t be surprised if I drove to the same store before the sale ends, I would find the same sign and the same soft shell crabs listed as Primes. 
 
People are really tired of being taken advantage of, including me.
 
Just thought I would share this with you.
 
Thanks for listening.
 
Regards,
 
Wendy Steele
Categories:
·         Food,
·         Grocery Stores
3 Comments
By Mona Golub on July 2, 2009 2:28 PM
Wendy,
Though nothing can excuse the insufficient responses given to you at our Vernon store, I hope I can rectify the situation by providing you with verifiable answers to your questions:

3.3oz. represents the standard LIVE weight of a Maryland Prime softshell crab. Grading on a DRESSED or gutted Maryland Prime softshell crab, like those which Price Chopper is advertising and selling, is based upon a standard measurement across the back from point to point, which for Prime softshell crab is 4.5 – 5 inches.
Understandably, with the eyes and internal organs removed, plus some evaporation due to transport time and chilling, dressed Maryland Prime softshell crab weighs less than its live, fully-intact counterpart. The weight of a dressed crab runs anywhere from 1.75-2.25oz., however the standard measurement across the back will not vary, making it clear which Maryland crabs make the Prime grade…as do those found at Price Chopper.
By the by, our seafood scales measure not by the ounce, but rather by hundredths of a pound. Therefore, .11 on the scale does not translate to 1oz. but rather 1.76oz.; .12 on the scale = 1.92oz., .13 on the scale = 2.08oz., and so on.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me should you need further clarification or have any other questions.
Sincerely,
Mona Golub
VP Public Relations and Consumer Services for Price Chopper
(518) 379-1480 or monag@pricechopper.com
By Bob Bitondi on July 2, 2009 2:46 PM
I found the same thing at the same Vernon Price Chopper store today (7/2/09). I was told that the 4 soft shell crabs in the case were all that they had left. They were flattened and pitifully small. When I pointed this out to the woman waiting on me she said, “That’s why they order a lot.” Huh?
I bought two of them only because my wife really had her heart set on soft shell crabs when she saw PC’s ad. But $8 for a couple ounces of seafood is insulting.
Price Chopper owes us an apology. Some decent soft shell crabs would be nice too.
Bob
By Marie on July 2, 2009 3:53 PM
Softshell crabs are a delicacy that cost $15-$20 for a petite plate of 2 or 3 at a nice restaurant. I think it’s great that Price Chopper is offering them before the season is over. Perhaps I’ll go over and buy the last 4 for myself!
Leave a comment
 

LAST SET OF EMAILS BEFORE I WAS FIRED

Subject: RE: 100 comments waiting for publishing on CTWachdog

My recollection from our meeting was that we all agreed to any posting
that met the same standards that we agreed on for the column. That’s
what is in my notes.
Does anyone have a different recollection?

Name
Email Address